As 2020 draws to a close (good riddance), I thought I would squeeze in one more blog - a pot pourri of selected issues related to Israel, on some of the topics that I have been writing regularly. There are many things to discuss but I don't want to be too repetitive. So here goes...
Covid-19
In some ways, I think it is fair to say that Israel is in the midst of a good news/bad news period in dealing with the pandemic. On the one hand, the virus has been spreading rapidly, including the "British mutation," the "South African mutation" and now the "Indian mutation." There have been more than 3,500 new cases a day recently and 10-15 people have been dying daily, if not more. This is all, of course, the bad news side of things.As a result, the Israeli government instituted a 3 week partial lockdown starting on December 21, 2020. Unlike the first lockdown, public schools have remained open. Non-essential retail establishments are closed and restaurants are permitted "delivery only" but no take-out service. The airport has remained open and Israel has not instituted testing for all arrivals. The government attempted to institute a mandatory quarantine plan in government-sponsored hotels but that soon fell apart. It is fairly clear that at least some of the out of control spread of the virus has been the result of travellers arriving back in Israel and failing to follow any proper quarantine rules. This has been the case since the initial outbreak in March, 2020 and the government has been unwilling to take necessary steps to stop it, largely for political reasons.
On the good news side of the ledger, the Israeli government has ramped up its vaccination program to the tune of more than 120,000 vaccines a day. For now, Israelis who are over 60 years of age, front line health care workers and those with extremely serious medical conditions are the only ones being vaccinated.
Israel, as you may know, has a public health care system. It is somewhat like the Canadian system, though instead of one "OHIP" - there are a few different Health Care organizations - and Israelis can choose which one they wish to join. They are all under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health, so they are each funded by the government. There are additional user fees and optional enhanced plans - though these tend to be priced quite reasonably.
So it is these health care providers - Maccabi, Clalit, Leumit and Meuhedet, that have set up stations across the country and are using smart phone apps, web sites, and their computerized systems to arrange appointments and roll out the vaccines as quickly as possible. By all accounts, it seems to be working quite efficiently. The providers have set aside the second vaccination dose for each person that receives the shot and have booked a second date automatically 21 days after the first dose.
Government estimates are that more than 80% of Israelis in these higher risk groups will have received their second dose by mid-February 2021. The general population is expected to start receiving the vaccine within the next week or two, with the government currently hoping to have close to 50% of all Israelis fully vaccinated by the end of March, 2021. It sounds optimistic, but given that the providers are managing to vaccinate more than 120,000 people a day, it seems quite possible.
It remains to be seen whether the vaccine is as effective as touted, how it will deal with new mutations and how long the inoculation will last. We also don't know yet whether the vaccine will prevent people from spreading the virus to others. But there is certainly a feeling in Israel that we are nearing the end, even though there are still some very difficult months ahead.
Politics
As you may know and as I mentioned in my last post, Israel is heading to the polls for the 4th time in the past 2 years on March 23, 2021, just a few days before Pesach (Passover).
If I were to try to cover all of the different political developments, I think I would need to write several columns a week, if not daily. New political parties are sprouting up like weeds and it is far too difficult to try and make any predictions at this point.
But here are a few of the highlights.
One of Likud's most senior members, Gideon Saar has formed a new party called "New Hope" and he has taken several Likud members with him. Reported polls have estimated between 15 and 20 seats for New Hope though I think it is far too early to start counting these votes. Saar has staked out his ground as a "solid right wing" alternative to the Likud led by Netanyahu. As far as I can tell, this seems to mean just about all of the same policies as the Likud without the alleged corruption. Saar has vowed that he will not form a government with Bibi but we have heard that before from the Blue and White Party. I'm skeptical.
Saar joins "Yamina" - the "Right," led by Naftali Bennett in a reasonably crowded field of right-wing nationalist parties.
It is probably fair to include the Blue and White party in that camp as well, since the left and centrist members of that party split away when Blue and White entered into a coalition government with Likud in March 2020. Yesterday Ganz announced that he will remain on as party leader and that he is not giving up. Polls show that the Blue and White party is running at about 5 seats and is flirting with coming in below the minimum electoral threshold. Most commentators seem to agree that Gantz was thoroughly humiliated by Netanyahu but, for now, Gantz has elected to stay on.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai |
In another development yesterday, the mayor of Tel-Aviv, Ron Huldai, also held a press conference and unveiled his new party called "The Israelis." Huldai's party is intended to offer a bit more of a left-centre approach than Blue and White. Politically, it would probably fall somewhere between Yesh Atid and Meretz, though it remains to be seen how Huldai's party differentiates itself from those other two left-centre parties. I have not yet seen any poll predictions as to how many seats The Israelis would get but they might make things interesting.
There are other developments as well, including key politicians leaving different parties and joining some of these new ones but I am not going to get into all of the details.
The long and the short of it is that Bibi is facing several challenges from the right, the centre and left. Most of these challengers have stated, quite unequivocally, that they will not agree to an "immunity bill" that gets Bibi out of his legal problems. They have also stated that they will not enter a coalition agreement with Bibi and his Likud party but I think the election results will really determine whether that promise can be upheld.
All of that being said, there is lots of time between now and the cut off date for new parties to enter the election campaign, which does not occur until mid-February I believe. So the only thing that seems reasonably certain is that there will be many new developments between now and the election. As of now, it looks likely that Israel will elect a fairly right wing government, with or without Bibi, but a lot can change in a few months. It does, however, seem like quite a long shot that Bibi will be able to get a "Get out of Jail Free" Card in the form of an immunity law. In the meantime, his criminal trial is scheduled to continue in February 2021.
Sports
There are a few interesting sports stories that are worth mentioning.
One of the big sports stories in Israel in 2020 is in NBA basketball. The Washington Wizards drafted Danny Avdija 9th overall in this year's NBA draft. This was huge news in Israel since 6 foot 9 inch Avdija was born in Israel on Kibbutz Beit Zera. Very few Israeli basketball players have made the NBA and he is the highest drafted Israeli ever.
Many people have been staying up until the wee hours to watch Washington Wizard games even though cheering for the pitiful Wizards has been a disconcerting proposition to date. Through four games, all losses, Avdija has averaged 7.5 points a game and 5 rebounds. Not earth shattering but it is early. I confess that I jumped on the bandwagon and watched the first game but since I am not a huge basketball fan, I have only done this once. If I were to watch middle of the night basketball in Israel, it would probably be my home town Raptors, though I understand they are also off to an equally dismal start. Generally, I tend to save the basketball watching for the playoffs, if at all.
A second big sports story is in the world of soccer, or football, depending on your preference. As you might have seen, UAE Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan bought 50% of the Beitar Jerusalem Football Club. The deal was announced soon after the peace deal between the UAE and Israel.
This is really quite fascinating. Beitar is known for having a very right wing fan base, who have, at times, chanted anti-Arab slogans at football matches. They sing several vulgar songs at Beitar matches and have also been known to show up at pro-Bibi political rallies. For years, Beitar had no Muslim players on its side unlike many of the other teams in the Israeli league. So it is quite remarkable that of all teams, the Sheikh has decided to purchase and rehabilitate this team, in the spirit of "Muslim-Jewish cooperation" as he puts it. It will be really interesting to see how the fans react and how this all works out.
Lastly, on the sports side - is the world of ice hockey. One of my friends sent me a link to an article that referred to a recent UAE-Israeli ice hockey match played between the UAE Mighty Camels and the Bat Yam Chiefs. I don't really recall seeing anything about it in the Israeli news but there is always hope that hockey will attract more fans and participants over time, especially with the relatively recent opening of a full size arena near Netanya. And of course, it is nice to see yet another sign that the peace between Israel and the UAE may develop into the warmest peace deal yet between Israel and its Arab neighbours. I guess we could say that the ice was broken quickly between these new peace partners.
As far as hockey goes, I have been staying up late to watch the World Junior Ice Hockey tournament. These games have been on somewhere between 1 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. Israel time. Three games, three big wins for Canada so far. Canada has not faced stiff opposition yet so I look forward to seeing how they will play against Finland tomorrow night - and then in the playoff round starting next week. The World Junior Tournament is one of my favourite sports events to watch since you get to see so many future ice hockey stars trying to impress NHL scouts. I am quite thankful to have a working VPN and streaming set-up. It does take a toll on my sleeping patterns though.
Holidays
As I discussed in my last post, Chanuka is not a really big deal here, other than the ubiquitous donuts, and once Chanuka ends, everything is pretty much back to its normal schedule.
I thought about the time-honoured tradition for American (and some Canadian) Jews of eating Chinese food on Christmas Eve. But it is really not a thing in Israel for several reasons. For one, it is not a holiday here so everyone is simply on a regular schedule and does not have the time to get together that they have in North America, where everything is closed for the holiday.
Secondly, and more challenging here is the difficulty of finding decent Chinese food. Although Israel has many different types of cuisine - including sushi and "pan-Asian" restaurants all over the country, there are very few decent Chinese restaurants and even fewer that are Kosher.
That hasn't stopped me from trying to fill the void every now and then. My hot and sour soup is pretty decent and I have made a range of other dishes. But I think Chinese food is something that is sorely lacking in Israel. Perhaps an opportunity for a budding post-virus restauranteur? Not me, that's for sure.
New Year's Eve here is known as "Silvester," named after Pope Silvester I. Many Israelis celebrate with parties and festivities, though it is not an official holiday in Israel so everything is open as normal on New Year's Day. Not sure what people will do this year in the midst of the pandemic but we happen to have some champagne choices on hand in case we want to go crazy...
Food Developments
I couldn't let the year pass without commenting on something really interesting. An Israeli company, Aleph Farms, has been producing cell based meat grown from animal cells in a lab. The company has been producing steaks and burgers. No animal slaughter required.
Another company, "Redefine Meat" has been producing 3D printed steaks which are made using digital models and food formulations but no actual animal products. The steaks apparently have a very authentic taste.
There are several other Israeli start ups also working in the meat alternative industry, which is rapidly growing.
Aleph Farms Alternative Meat |
There's lots more to say but I will have to save some of it for 2021. This has probably already been too long but I hope that you have found some of it to be interesting reading.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2021.